April 2013

The University Symphonic Band and the University Jazz Ensemble will perform selections from renowned symphonic and jazz composers during the Spring Concert.

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The Delaware State University Department of Music will feature its University Symphonic Band and the University Jazz Ensemble in its annual Spring Concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 in the Education & Humanities Theatre on campus.
The concert is free and open to the public.
The first half of the concert will feature the DSU Symphonic Band, which will perform selections by outstanding composers of symphonic band music such as W. Frances McBeth, Clifton Williams, Claude T. Smith and Eric Osterling.
The DSU Jazz Ensemble will be featured in the second half of the concert and will perform selections by legends of jazz such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.

DSU President Harry L. Williams spends a lot of time meeting with DSU stakeholders, which includes the primary constituent of the University – its students.
Dr. Williams often meets with student groups in the comfortable confines of his office, such as this recent meeting with the Senior Class officers.
While Dr. Williams meets monthly with the DSU Student Government Association executive officers, he also carves out time for a variety of other student groups. In these gatherings, Dr. Williams talks to the students about their academic journey and campus life at DSU and gets a sense from them what is working on campus and what can be improved upon.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t take time out to sit down often with the students and listen to them talk about their experiences on campus and their thoughts on how we might do things better,” Dr. Williams said. “Our efforts to be the number one HBCU in the country have to have the input of our students.”
Over the last academic year, Dr. Williams has met with various class officers and SGA elected officials, ethnic student organizations, spiritual and religious student groups, Inspire Scholars, and other organizations and clubs on campus.
Gianna Harris, Senior Class vice president, said she greatly appreciated her group’s meeting with the DSU president. She noted that most students at other universities do not get that opportunity.
I admire that he sat down with us and that he valued what we said. He listened to us and he was engaged in the conversation,” Ms. Harris said. “I believe that President Williams is in the process of making changes to the University for the better!”

The 50-voice DSU choir will be accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The choir and orchestra will be directed by Dr. Lloyd Mallory, Jr., DSU director of choral activities.

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The 50-voice DSU choir will be accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra. The choir and orchestra will be directed by Dr. Lloyd Mallory, Jr., DSU director of choral activities.

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The Delaware State University Concert Choir will present its 2013 Spring Concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 21 in the Education and Humanities Theatre on campus.
The 50-voice Concert Choir will perform a variety of compositions, including choral classics, American folk songs, as well as a set of jazz pieces set to music by the late George Shearing. The choir will be accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra comprised of a mix of musicians from Maryland along with DSU faculty and student musicians.
The choir and orchestra will be directed by Dr. Lloyd Mallory, Jr., DSU director of choral activities.
Tickets to the Spring Concert are $10 per person (free to DSU students with I.D.) and will be sold at the door on the date of the concert. Doors will open at 3:15 p.m.

Dr. Bradley Skelcher, associate provost, Richard Ruben, Delaware representative of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve organization, and Dr. Alton Thompson, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, display the Above and Beyond Award.

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The Delaware Division of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) has recognized Delaware State University for its accommodations of deployed DSU employees who are National Guard and National Army/Air Force Reserve members.
Richard Ruben, the Delaware ESGR employer outreach representative, recently presented DSU with the ESGR Above and Beyond Award, in recognition of the University’s track record for working with its employees who serves in the National Guard and National Army/Air Force Reserves.
Mr. Ruben presented the award to Dr. Alton Thompson, DSU provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, and Dr. Bradley Skelcher, associate provost, who both accepted the award on behalf of the University.
“This is in recognition of how DSU accommodates its employees who are in the Guard and Reserves when they have to deployed and spend time away from their jobs,” Mr. Ruben said. “They are able to serve their country while DSU ensures that their employment is secured.”

Delaware State University recently recognized the winners of its 2nd annual DSU Speech Tournament held on March 5.
This year’s winners are:
First Place ($500, certificate): Matthew Jones, “Tuskegee Airmen”
Second Place ($250, certificate): Ashlee Bruner, “Myths of the Civil Rights Movement”
Third Place ($125, certificate): Eric Brown, “H.B.C.U.”
Honorable Mention ($50): Marcus Delancey, “U.S. History is African American History”
Honorable Mention ($50): Thomas Jordan, “This World is Yours”
Twenty-two participants performed in front of a packed Longwood Auditorium crowd at the tournament held at the Bank of America Building at Delaware State University (DSU). The winners were presented their awards on April 12.
Each participant gave a three-minute speech on a topic associated with African American history or civil rights, which was evaluated on both content and delivery.
The event was co-sponsored by the Law Studies Office, CAHSS Dean’s Office, and Office of Student Affairs at DSU and the Delaware Barristers Association. The latter group contributed the award money for top finishers of the competition and three of its member attorneys – Jordan Perry, Tiara Patton, and Loren Holland – served as judges for the tournament.
Each participant gave a three-minute speech on a topic associated with African American history or civil rights, which was evaluated on both content and delivery.
Dr. Samuel B. Hoff, George Washington Distinguished Professor of History and Political Science and Law Studies Director at DSU, served as the coordinator for the tournament.

Although Earth Day is not until April 22, Delaware State University got so excited about its sustainability efforts, the institution just could not wait.
DSU held its Earth Day events on April 18, combining it with its Arbor Day Celebration. For images from the day’s events, click on the below photo slideshow, followed by more information.
The Earth Day events were a combination of the participation by DSU students, faculty, staff and administrators, along with other partners such as Pepco Holdings Inc., DuPont, Emory Hill, Delmarva Power, Toyota Corporation, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Arbor Day foundation.
The morning event included a number of exhibitions by DSU groups and the abovementioned partners, followed by a 10 a.m. program, all in the Martin Luther King Student Center.
Dr. Stanley Merritt was the keynote speaker, and there were also a presentation by Pepco Holdings’ Lisa Pfeifer and Aleta Finney, and a poem and song performance by the children of the DSU Child Development Lab.
In addition, it was announced that Evers Hall was the winner of the "Green Games" competition against Jenkins Hall. It was a contest to see which residential hall could reduce its consumption of energy the most.
In the afternoon, the University held Arbor Day Celebration outside of the historic Loockerman Hall on campus.
Mary Widhelm, program manager of the Arbor Day Foundation, Michael Valenti, administrator of the Delaware Forest Service, presented DSU President Harry L. Williams with a plaque recognizing the renewal of the University’s USA Tree Campus status.
The Tree Campus USA designation goes to schools that have an implemented plan for tree care that is supported by school allocations, an established Campus Tree Advisory Committee, related education outreach, as well as an annual observance of Arbor Day. It is the second consecutive year DSU has received that designation.
DSU is the only USA Tree Campus in Delaware and is one of only two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the country to be designated as such.
“The founding fathers (of DSU) would be happy about the way we are preserving this campus,” Dr. Williams said. “We are going to preserve space for our trees.”
Syrena Taylor, a senior DSU student in DSU’s College of Agriculture and Related Sciences, noted that there are 172 different species of trees on the campus, 25 of which has been planted in the last two years.
“We have inspired ourselves to be better than unique,” Ms. Taylor said.

DSU Computer Science and Information Technology Program has recently been certified as meeting federal training standards that are necessary to produce the computer and information technology personnel needed in the current cyber space environment.
The Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation (IACE) program of the National Security Agency (NSA) has certified that Delaware State University courseware meets all of the elements of the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) National Training Standards for:
Information Systems Security (INFOSEC) Professionals, NSTISSI No. 4011
System Administrators (SA), CNSSI No. 4013 Entry Level
This certification adds a tremendous value to DSU's undergraduate computer science and information technology degrees in that an NSA certificate can now be given to each graduate who completes the set of courseware. In addition, it brings DSU one step closer to being designated as a national Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Education.
The goal of IACE Program is to provide consistency in training and education for the information assurance skills that are critical to our nation. IACE systematically assesses the degree to which courseware from commercial, government, and academic sources maps to the national standards set by CNSS.
With the ever-increasing threat of cyber-attacks to government and commercial networks, this certification will help DSU CS and IT graduates to fill the critical needs for cyber experts to safeguard systems and eliminate vulnerabilities.

Undergraduate students will pay the DSU cashiers less for 2013 summer sessions courses, which has been reduced by 35%.

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The Delaware State University Board of Trustees recently approved a 35% reduction in the cost of 2013 undergraduate summer session courses.
The in-state rate this summer will drop from $273 down to $177 per credit hour. The out-of-state summer rate will decrease from $620 to $403.
The reduction – which only applies to undergraduate courses – will be for both Summer Session I (May 21 to June 27) and Summer Session II (July 1 to Aug. 8). There is no change in the current per credit hour rates for graduate or doctoral summer courses (in-state graduate – $417; out-of-state graduate – $920; in-state/out-of-state doctoral – $528)/
Dr. Eric A. Cheek, DSU director of Summer School and Summer Programs, said with this reduction, students can take three courses for less than the price of two during the regular term.
“Many of our students and families are struggling, and as a caring University we need to help them in any way we can,” Dr. Cheek said. “By reducing the undergraduate summer rates by 35%, we are giving students the opportunity to get ahead, catch up or just stay on track and save on their total cost.”
The DSU Board of Trustees approved the summer undergraduate course reduction during its March 18 regular quarterly meeting.

Outgoing SGA President Shelbe Hudson (center) spent some time with DSU President Harry L. Williams and his wife Dr. Robin Williams as one of about 100 soon-to-be graduating students who attended the annual Senior Brunch at the First Couple's residence on campus.

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DSU President Harry L. Williams and his wife Dr. Robin Williams held two events at their home on April 25 that honored DSU’s 2013 graduating students and welcomed the incoming top student leadership officers for upcoming academic year.
The University’s First Couple held the annual Senior Brunch at their residence for this year’s graduating students. About 100 soon-to-be graduates attended the brunch. Later that evening, Dr. Williams and his wife hosted the newly elected Student Government Association Executive Officers for a dinner that also included the University vice presidents.
For images from both events, click on the below photo slideshow: